Brief Mention: New Cozy Vet Mystery from Eileen Brady, SADDLED WITH MURDER

Eileen Brady already has four earlier "Kate Turner, DVM, Mysteries" from Poisoned Pen Press, but with the press transition to an imprint of Sourcebooks, Brady's books are also making a transition, positioning SADDLED WITH MURDER as a "cozy." Making it especially appealing for this season is its Christmas theme, twisted with an office holiday party that goes frighteningly awry.

Kate's staffers open up a game about saying out loud a "selfish Santa" Christmas wish. Frazzled and exhausted, Kate is foolish enough to wish she didn't have to deal with a couple of the practice's most challenging (human) clients -- and a staffer catches this on video and releases it on social media, without thinking about what could follow.

Soon Kate herself is taking deep breaths but unable to corral the tumbling emergencies: 

After a few more breaths I'd started to calm down, when the speakers came to life with a loud and lively chorus of "On the First Day of Christmas." I replaced their words with my own.

Two dead clients, one ex-boyfriend, and a present dumped in the trash.

From tender moments with dogs and other companion animals, to a struggle with an out-of-control adopted wild horse, to the machinations of staff, family, and boyfriends, Brady provides a generous set of veterinary and very human sidelights to her mystery in process. 

SADDLED WITH MURDER is a treat for animal lovers and for collectors of veterinary, horse, or dog mysteries, and a delightful lightweight treat for relaxing before, during, or after Christmas. 

PS: Looking for more mystery reviews, from cozy to very dark? Browse the Kingdom Books mysteries review blog here.

New from Betty Webb, THE PANDA OF DEATH, a Gunn Zoo Mystery

In her sixth Gunn Zoo Mystery, THE PANDA OF DEATH, Betty Webb provides a relaxing, intriguing, and at times even charming armchair delight to enjoy in this in-between season. Narrated by zookeeper Theodora "Teddy" Bentley, it features the newest resident of the local zoo -- a red panda, not at all like the classic black-and-white version -- plus the competitive vibe of California would-be actors and writers. Most importantly, it's Teddy taking on yet another (forbidden) effort to solve a crime. But how can she resist?

Any other happily married spouse might get understandably defensive and angry, upon discovering her husband fathered a child long before they married ... yet never even knew he'd done it. When 18-year-old Dylan comes into Teddy's life, she's charmed by him, and goes to see Lauren, the ex-girlfriend of her husband, and mother of this delightful young man.

She shrugged and looked back up, meeting my eyes. "Look, I just couldn't cope, so for a while I simply did what everyone told me to do. Until Dylan was born. Then I took one look at him and everything changed."

Her movie-star face twisted, and I could see how hard she was trying to keep from crying.

Seeing Lauren's grief spurred me toward resolve. Regardless of what happened, I would find out who had really murdered Cliff Flaherty.

Murdered? Oh, that's another unexpected detail -- no sooner had Teddy met and, with her husband Joe, embraced the newfound family member, than the police turned up and arrested him on charges of killing a local and particularly unpleasant TV script writer.

Nothing gruesome or horrific in this one -- a series of clues, classic red herrings, and emphatic efforts toward solving the crime follow, and along with the triumph of justice, both friendship and family surge to the forefront. Pick this one up for traditional mystery puzzle solving without stress, and enjoy again Betty Webb's behind-the-scenes knowledge of animals at the zoo, along with Teddy's steady progress toward a happy ending.

PS:  Looking for more mystery reviews, from cozy to very dark? Browse the Kingdom Books mysteries review blog here.   

Vet School Mystery: AN ANIMAL LIFE by Howard Krum

Last month's "Bookstock" festival in Woodstock, Vermont, brought an unusual new book to me: AN ANIMAL LIFE: THE BEGINNING, first in a series from three veterinarians (and illustrated by a fourth). Described by the authors -- Howard Krum with Roy Yanong and Scott Moore, plus art by Patty Hogan -- as "a scientific medical mystery (animals and people are dying)," the book is far from a traditional who-dun-it. There is no sleuthing plot to speak of, there are few clues, and the focal point of the story isn't really the hunt for what's causing the deaths (a real discovery, by the way, from the late 1980s).

And there is definitely a taste of "first book" here, plus some structural issues betray the team aspect of authorship. The first few chapters wobble, and the pace has issues.

The good news, though, is that this book is so much fun, and so much a period piece -- an updated version of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance crossed with Mash and taken into veterinary school -- that I never did put the book down for much longer than it took to get a fresh glass of iced tea.

THE ANIMAL LIFE opens with two aspects of vet life: first-year vet college featuring cop-turned-animal-intern Jack Doyle and courageous Anna Heywood, who's battling Lou Gehrig's disease, complete with therapy dog; and the political pressures on a prominent zoo vet, Dr. Violet Marie Green, who might seem to have it all but is being blackmailed and bribed simultaneously (the closest the book comes to expected mystery terrain). With a couple of romances in blossom, entertaining dynamics among various types of students and their more advanced peers, and entirely endearing interactions with horses, dogs, and more, the book provides a delicious jumble of entertaining scenes, quickly spilled forward over a school year.

And the authors' attitude toward their storytelling is captured at the start with this short insert:

People ask: "So what's this book about?"

We usually reply: "It's about 300 pages. . ."

Also, it's about life, death, and finding your place in this world. And veterinary medicine. But that's it, just those three things: a medical mystery, finding Love, and becoming a veterinarian. Promise.

If you've ever dreamed of becoming a vet (I did, for years), or know someone who has (you'll want to give them a copy), or believe in treasuring the first efforts of promising authors who like to set up amusing moments in print -- zip over to the website AnAnimalLife.com and pick up a copy. You may also find the book at stores in or near Windsor, Vermont, where it's published.

Don't shelve it with mysteries, though. Put it on the shelf of rollicking fun in college form, and let your friends know it's there.